Holding mechanism for spring-actuated shades



' (No Model.) I i 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. H. FORSYTH, $11 H. H; FORSYTH, Jr.& W. H. FORSYTH.

HOLDING MECHANISM FOR SPRING AGTUATED SHADES.

No. 524,060. Patented Aug. 7, 1894.

Toy-1 THE scams Pnzns ca, ruorau'mov, WASHINGTON, 0. c4

2 Sheets-Sher. 2.

(No Model.) H. H. FORSYTH, Sr., H. H. FORSYTH, Jr; 82 W. H. FORSYTH.

HOLDING MECHANISM FOR SPRING AOTUATED SHADES.

Patented Aug. 7, 1894.

m: noams PETERS ca, PHDTQ'LITHO" wAsungm'on, n. c.

To all whom it may concern:

v UNITED SrA'r'ns;

; PATENT OFFIcE.

HENRY H. FORSYTH, SR., HENRY H. FORSYTH, JR, AND WILLIAM. HOLMESFORSYTH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HOLDING MECHANISM FOR SPRlNG-ACTUATED SHADES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 524,060, dated August7, 1894.

Application filed February 15, 1894-.- Serial No. 500.308. (No model.)

Be it known that we, HENRY H. FORSYTH, Sn, HENRY H. FORSYTH, Jr., andWILLIAM IIOLMES FORSYTH, of Chicago, Illinois, have lnvented certain newand useful Improvements in Holding Mechanism for Spring-Actuated Shades,of which the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to provide a holding mechanism for springactuated shades, adapted especially for use in railway cars.

The invention relates to a novelconstruction of means for frictionallyholding the shade in any adjusted or desired position and means forreleasing the frictional holding device to adjust the shade to any newposition.

The invention relates particularly: First. To a novel means for slidablyconnecting the spring actuated friction locking rods with the tubecarried by the shade, so as to prevent axial rotation of the rods.Second. To a novel guiding and frictional holding device. Third. To apeculiarly formed escutcheon used in combination with certain otherfeatures of construction. Fourth. To certain other features ofconstruction and combinations of parts as hereinafter described andparticularly pointed out in the claims.

Devices of this general character are known and have been extensivelyused, but our invention is directed to certain improvements 1n thestructural features whereby our frictlonal holding means are caused tooperate diiferently from any new in use and in a superior manner. Thereis also attained by our invention simplicity in the number and forms ofthe parts, economy of construction and a capacity for the readyassembling and lnterchanging of parts quickly and by means ofv simpletools and without removing the shade from its position.

In carrying out our invention we employ in the preferredconstruction, atube, preferably a gas pipe of small bore, which is inserted in orattached to the lower margin of the shade. In this tube are slidablymounted two spring actuated rods carrying the frictional holding means.These rods are extended beyond the friction devices and constituteguides, said guides moving up and down in grooves formed in the casing.The rods are controlled by hand pieces detachably connected with therods and projected through an aperture 'or' apertures, in the tube andthrough a corresponding aperture or apertures, in a curved plate orescutcheon. This plate or escutcheon affords a suitable outer and innerguide and bearing surfaces for the hand pieces, and the end walls of theapertures in the escutcheon form abutments or stops to limitthe outwardmovement of the spring actuated rods. These rods are also of peculiarconstruction. They have a threaded connection withthe hand pieces, andthese latter are shouldered so as to afford bearing surfaces'on theexterior and interior of the escutcheon, and also to prevent lateralmovement of the handpieces. The outer ends of the rods, orapartconnected thereto, carry pins which are adapted to travel in slots inthe ends of the tube. The pins serve the purpose of preventing theturning of the rods and their consequent detachment from thehand-pieces, while the ends of said slots form stops which, when engagedby the pins may limit the inward movement of the spring actuated rods.

In the preferred construction the ends of the spring actuated rods areextended to act as guides which travel in narrow slots or grooves formedin the casing or by strips applied to the casing. Insteadof employing africtional disk which travels in the groove and is forced into contactwith the rear wall thereof by the spring actuated rod, we preferablyemploy a friction disk, which is carried by the rod,but does not enterthe groove, and which serves to lock the shade frictionally by theimpingement of the end of the disk against the outer surfaces of thecasing or guide strip adjacent to the groove. By this means the largeunsightly slot necessary to be provided in the use of olderconstructions of frictional shade holders is dispensed with, and theholder is especially adapted not only to finely finished cars, but alsoto those cars Whose casings are narrow and afford no room for largegrooves.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a broken elevation, partly insection, showing our invention as applied in a construction wherefriction disks travel within the grooves or guide ways. Fig.2 is asimilar view showing the preferred construction, where the extended endsof the rods only travel within the guide ways and the ends of thefriction disks impinge the surfaces adjacent to the grooves and showingalso the preferred construction of hand piece. Fig. 3 is alongitudinalbroken sectional elevation, showing at one end the friction disk adaptedto travelin the slot and at the other end the extended guide with afriction disk adapted to impinge the surfaces at the sides of thegroove. Fig. 4: is a broken plan view of the curved plate or escutcheonin position over the aperture of the tube, the outlines of the apertureof the latter showing by dotted lines. Fig. 5sl1ows the ends of the tubewith its slots and the ends of the rods with their pins and showing therelation of the latter to the slots. Fig. 6 is a transverse sectionalelevation through the tube and escutcheon, the margin of thecurtainsecured in place and the preferred construction of hand pieceshowing in end elevation in full lines, the alternative constructionbeing indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 7 is an end view of the rod andtube showing the relation of the pin to the slot, and Figs. 8 and 9show, respectively, the narrow and wide groovesor guide ways in thecasing. Fig. 1 shows in longitudinal and transverse sectional views amodification of the construction wherein the pin is carried by the tubeand works in a sleeve carried on the rod. Fig. 2 shows in elevation andtransverse section two views of the modification wherein the pin andslot connection between the tube and rod is omitted, the outer end ofthe tube being squared, and the sleeve carried by the rod being incorresponding cross-section in order to prevent rotation. Figs. 3 and 4.showa transverse sectional elevation of tubes of modified construction.

In the drawings, 10 represents the curtain which is usually attached atits lower margin to a narrow strip of leather 11 doubled upon 1iztsfilfto provide a sheathing to receive the The tube is marked 12, and ispreferably constructed from a gas pipe of small diameter cutto theappropriate length and which is reamed out or enlarged interiorly, as at18, to provide a spring chamber in each end of the tube. The middleportion of this red has an aperture 14, and the outer ends of the tubeare slotted as at 15. Within the hollow of the tube are slidably mountedthe rods 16, whose inner ends have a threaded connection with the handpieces 17, said hand pieces having the shoulders 17 17", the formerbeing adapted to ride upon the inner surface of the escutcheon 18, andthe shoulders 17 being adapted to ride on the outer surface thereof, asclearly shown in Fig. '6. The hand piece has its outer end projectedbeyond the plane of the shade at an angle thereto, so as to permit theshade to be drawn down close to the window-sill, to permit the handpieces to be grasped without danger of jamming the ends of the fingersagainst the sash bar; the curtain will also be closer to the sash andthe fixture is more sightly.

The curved plate or escutcheon 18 is secured to the tube, by the bindingscrew 19, and is intended to be held rigidlyin place so that it cannotmove endwise when in use. It

provides a bearing for the shoulders of the hand pieces and has anelongated aperture or apertures 18, the outer ends of which formabutments to limitthe outward movement of the rods. Two apertures 18 areshown separated by the bridge 19 through which the binding screw 19passes. Therods are normally thrust outwardly by means of the coiledsprings 20, which are seated in the spring chambers 18 of the tube 12.The inner ends of these springs take a bearing against the shoulderformed by the reaming out of the bore of the tube, and the outer ends ofthe springs have a bearing upon the rods, as for example, in theconstruction shown, by ongaging the inner ends of the enlarged sections21, which are longitudinally bored to slip over the rods and are securedthereto by the pins 22. The sections 21 have the heads 21 and thefriction disks 23 are slippedover the extended ends of the rods 16,leaving a portion of said rods uncovered, as seen in Fig. 2, and at theleft of Fig. 3, said extended ends forming guides which may traverse thenarrow groove 24, Fig. 8. The pins 22 are prevented from leaving theslots in the ends of the tube in the operation of the device by reasonof the relative length of the apertures in the escutcheon or plate 18,with reference to the aperture 14 in the tube, the escutcheon beingsecured in place after the parts are assembled.

By reference to Figs. 3 and t it will be seen i that the length of theapertures in the escutcheon is less than the length of the aperture inthe tube. In assembling the parts the escutcheon is placed over theaperture in the tube and the head of "one of the hand pieces insertedthrough the aperture of the escutcheon and into the'aperture of thetube. The escutcheon is then moved toward one end of the tube and therod 16 is inserted and engaged with the hand piece. The escutcheon isthen moved toward the opposite end of the tube and the rod inserted fromthat end and engaged with its hand piece and finally the escutcheon ismoved back to its ultimate position, drawing the pin of the secured rodinto its slot and the escutcheonis secured by its screw. When in thisfixed position the ends of the apertures in the escutcheon formabutments to limit the outward movement of the rods and to prevent thepins carried thereby from at any time leaving the slots. The result ofthis is that the rods themselves are prevented from axial rotation whichwould effect their disengagement from the hand pieces; and the pins maybe made further to serve the purpose of limiting the inward movement ofthe spring actuated rods, although the heads 21 of the enlarged sections21 may abut against the outward ends of the tubes, and thus limit theinward movement of the rods. I

In the construction shown in Fig. l, the disks 23 enter the slots andimpinge upon the bottom wall thereof, thus frictionally locking theshade to any position towhich it is adjusted. In the construction shownin Fig. 2, and which is the preferred construction, the extended ends ofthe rods serve as guides, while the end of the disk impinges upon theouter surface of the casing or strips in which the groove is formed andenables the employment of the narrow groove shown in Fig. 8. In theconstruction illustrated in Fig. 3 it will be observed that twoapertures 18 are provided in the escutcheon with an intermediate bridgethrough which the binding screw 19 passes, but as this bridge in thiscase serves only the purpose of a support for the screw itself, it maybe omitted, and the screw applied in a different manner. For example,the screw may pass through the margins of the escutcheon or platehorizontally instead of vertically through its bridge.

By reference to Fig. 6 it will be seen that the escutcheon or curvedplate 18is comparatively narrow and that its margins do not extend tothe axial line of the tube. This is preferred because only a small metalsurface is thereby exposed and the fixture is kept clean with less laborand itsappearance is enhanced.

It is obvious that instead of employing the separate sections 21, thepins 22 might be secured in the rod and form the stops for the .outerends of the springs 19, and the disks might be held upon the rods inother manner than by abutment against the heads 21.

The. advantages of the construction will beapparent from the abovedescription. The

gas pipe employed is strong and cheap, andan aperture may be providedtherein without removing a large section of material, by cutting out anarrow section and then expanding the walls of the tube on either sideof the aperture to a sufficient width to receive the heads of the handpieces. The tube itself need not be accurately and smoothly finished atits central aperture, because the guides for the hand pieces are formedby the escutcheon. The. slots in the outer ends of the tubes do notrequire accuracy of finish, but are made sufficiently large to permitthe pins to slide freely therein while preventing the rods from turning.The parts may be readily assembled and when necessary replaced orinterchanged without removingthe curtain, by the removal of the bindingscrew 19, whereupon any part of. the fixture may be taken out orreplaced by hand. By constructing the tube of gas pipe requisitestrength may be secured in a tube of very small diameter, and thereforea more sightly fixture can be obtained than where sheet metal tubes areused as heretofore. By forming the bearing in the escutcheon instead ofin the tube, we are enabled to secure a free and smooth working deviceand the hand pieces having a bearing both upon the inside and upon theoutside of the plate are prevented from turning or twisting in anymanner or from getting into any position where binding would result andthe easy action of the fixture be interfered with.

We have shown and described two oppositely movable rods mounted in thetube, but it will be understood that sometimes only one rod is employed.The means for preventing the rotation of the rod within the tube may beconsiderably varied, as for example, as shown in Fig. 1 instead of theform of pin shown in the preceding figures, a lug or key 22 is employedwhich is secured to or formed integrally with the tube and works in aslot 15 of the enlarged section 21 of the rod. 7

In the construction shown in Fig. 2* the pin and slot connection isomitted, and the end of. the tube is squared as at 12 and the enlargedsection 21 is also squared.

The word tube as is used in the specification and claims is intended torefer to any suitable holder, sheath or covering for the spring actuatedrod, and it will be understood that it is not essential to employ aholder of strictly tubular form, or that the tube should be entire orclosed, for example, we have shown in Figs. 3'and 4* tube sections whichvary slightly from the cylindrical, as for example, the form shown inFig. 3 being elliptical and the form shown in Fig. 4 polygonal. It willbe understood that when tubes of the last named forms are employed andthe rods carry enlarged sections of similar shapes, the pin and slotconnection between the rod and the tube may be dispensed with as in Fig.2*.

It will be obvious from what is said above that the structural featuresmay be considerably varied without departing from the spirit of theinvention, and therefore, without limiting our invention to precisedetails of construction,

We clain1- 1. In a holding mechanism for spring actuated shades, thecombinationv with a tube-to be carried by the shade, of a springactuated rod slidably mounted within the bore of the tube, a hand piecedetachably connected with the inner end of the rod, means applied to theouter end of the tube for preventing the rotation of the rod and therebythe disengage ment of the hand piece, and means for limiting the endwisemovement of the rod, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a holding mechanism for spring actuated shades, the combinationwith a tube to be carried by the shade,.of a spring actuated rodslidably mounted withinthe bore' of the tube, means for preventing theaxial rotation of the rod, the wall of the tube being slotted, a slottedescutcheon fitted over the slot in the tube and ahand piece projectedthrough the slots of the escutcheon and tube and detachably connectedwith the rod, the aperture of the escutcheon being of less length thanthe aperture of the tube, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

3. In a holding mechanism for spring actuated shades, the combinationwith a tube to be carried by the shade, aspring actuated rod slidablymounted in the tube and projecting beyond the end of the tube, thelatter having an aperture toward its middle, a hand piece projectingthrough said aperture and detachably connected with the rod, a slot andpin connection between the rod and the tube, and an escutcheon having anaperture through which the hand piece also projects, the aperture of theescutcheon being of less length than the aperture of the tube wherebyafter the parts are assembled, the pin is prevented from leaving theslot, substantially as described.

4:. In a holding mechanism for spring actuated shades, the combinationwith a tube having an aperture in its wall intermediate its ends andlongitudinal slots in its wall atits ends, spring actuated rods mountedwithin the tube, pins carried upon said rods and adapted to enter theslots of the tube, hand pieces connected with the inner ends of the rodsand extending in position to be grasped and an escutcheon having anaperture through which the hand pieces project and in which they mayslide, said aperture being of less length than that of the tube, wherebythe parts may be assembled and the pins are prevented from escaping theslots in operation,substantially as described.

5. In a holding mechanism for spring actuated shades, the combinationwith a tube having an aperture in its wall intermediate its ends, andlongitudinal slots in its wall at its ends, spring actuated rods havingpins working in the slots and carrying friction devices beyond the endsof the tube, hand pieces secured to the inner ends of the rods, and anescutcheon having apertures through which the hand pieces work, theapertures in the escutcheon being separated by a bridge and a bindingscrew passing through a perforation in the bridge and engaging the tubewhereby to fix the escutcheon in place, substantially as described.

6. In a holding mechanism for spring actuated shades, the combinationwith a tube having a spring actuated friction locking rod mountedtherein, a hand piece detachably connected to the inner end of said rod,an escutcheon detachably secured over the aperture in the tube andhaving an aperture through which the hand piece also projects, said handpiece being provided with shoulders adapted to bear internally upon saidescutcheon, substantially as described.

7. In a holding mechanism for spring actuated shad es, the combinationwith a tube havinga central aperture, a spring actuated rod slidablymounted in said tube, a hand piece passing through said aperture andsecured to the inner end of the rod, and an escutcheon adapted to besecured over the aperture in the tube and having an opening of lesswidth than the aperture of the tube whereby to form side guides orbearings for the hand piece, and the latter having also a bearing on theinterior of the escutcheon substantially as described. j

8. In a holding mechanism for spring actuated shades, the combinationwith a tube, of a spring actuated rod mounted therein and provided witha friction device beyond the end of the tube and a guide extended beyondthe friction device and adapted to enter a groove or guide way and guidethe shade in its vertical movement, substantially as described.

9. In a holding mechanism for spring actuated shades, the combinationwith,a tube, of a spring actuated rod mounted therein and carrying afriction device, the end of the rod being extended beyond the frictiondevice and adapted to enter a groove or guide way, and the frictionaldevice being adapted to impinge the surface adjacent to the opening ofthe groove or guide way, substantially as described. i

10. In a holding mechanism for spring actuated shades, the combinationwith a tube, of a spring actuated rod mounted therein, the tube beingapertured and a hand piece having one of its ends connected with the rodand extending through the aperture in the tube and its outer end turnedor bent and projected beyond the plane of the shade, and at an anglethereto, substantially as described.

HENRY I-I. FORSYTI-I, SR. HENRY H. FORSYTH, JR. WILLIAM HOLMES FORSYTH.lVitnesses:

C. O. LINTHIOUM, F. C. GOODWIN.

